Can you use tarp sheets to line a chicken run to make it easier to clean?

[Sire12]

I'm moving soon and I'm going to make a narrow run for my chickens about 4-5 foot wide and 40 foot long, it's going to be connected to their coop and nest boxes and il only put them in here when it's dark so for most of the day they will have free run of the rest of the garden - but since their run will be quite narrow and in a straight line I was thinking of lining it with a thick tarp or weed control blanket or something similar to make it much easier to hose down and clean out since there is a drain nearby will this be ok? It will look a bit like the attached pic only longer

 

[Percheron chick]

If it's dark, your chickens will be on the roost not outside in the run. Chickens want to scratch. If you put a weed barrier down, they will scratch and tear through the material I've never seen a weed problem in runs as they are bare dirt from all the scratching.

 

[aart]

Where does the 'drain' go?
Will there be any bedding in the run?
Will you be in a city or town....or out in the country?
There's lots of way to manage manure,
this doesn't sound like a good one,
but I may not be understanding exactly what you are proposing.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I've heard of deep litter before but haven't tried it, wouldn't it leave a smell?

If properly done there should be little smell, even if you're standing in the middle of the run. The key thing is to build up
a good mix of different sized materials, to allow for drainage. I use mainly chunky, aged wood chips and dried leaves, and add in short clipped grass, garden trimmings, etc. as I get them.

 

[aart]

Sorry lol, I saw but I don't trust myself to be competent enough to do it properly

You can do it we can help.
'Composting' does not have to be a foot deep and wet and smelly.
I just use a few inches of big wood chunks from commercial tree trimming and chipping,
not sure if that will be available to you or not.
That's the best stuff to break down('compost') the chicken poops.
Carbons(browns) balanced with nitrogen(greens).
With chickens you just need the browns(dry plant matter) the poops are the greens.
I do add some other smaller more fragile(breaks down faster) dry plant stuff like dry grass clippings and dry leaves.
I'm not trying to make garden soil, just keep the poops broken down.

So start looking for where you can acquire larger pieces of wood chippings.
When are you moving and when will your new run be ready??

 

[CanadaEh]

what are you trying to achieve and how soon are you moving? A tarp will kill your grass - probably within a month, so will the chickens. If you will have to reseed it, it will be growing much better on the chicken fertilized soil.

 

[Sire12]

The chickens will have the full run of the garden for a few hours a day it's a fairly large garden I'll attach pics, but I meant I would have their coop inside their pen and have the pen running alongside the garden wall, then I'll lock the pen door at night which means they can still come out of the coop in the morning but not straight into the garden, I know the pen would go bare and mucky that's why I was wondering if a thick tarp would stop it getting muddy and instead be easy to clean - also I could just brush up their poop and shovel it up if the drain isn't a good idea.

The reason I want the pen to begin with and not just let them have full free range of the garden is that I'm worried if they'll make the whole thing bare if they were out in it all day, I have 8 hens and 1 roo a few of them are quite large breed brahmas so based on that could anyone tell me whether I could actually let them into the yard for most of the day without making it bare? I don't have the exact size I'll measure tomorrow but here are some pics at different angles, thanks for any help.

 

[aart]

I wouldn't want to try deep litter incase I did it wrong and it left a smell, also since its compost wouldn't it attract rodents

Not if you only used dry plant materials.
Are you seeing my posts?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Why not do deep litter instead? That'll take care of muck issues (provided the run area doesn't have drainage problems) as well as make it easier to clean, since you just need to clear it out once in a while or add to it as materials break down.

Where does the 'drain' go?

Good question, is this an actual drain or a drainage channel? If it's a drain I wouldn't be hosing muck into, because it could clog, and in my area at least all the drains lead straight into the river system, so washing chicken poop into it would be a no-no.

 

[CanadaEh]

chicken poop does not make the run muddy - rain and snow does